The Brave and the Bold Archives - Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources

Every day this year, I will be examining the artwork on a single comic book story. Today’s artist is Joe Kubert, and the issues are The Brave and the Bold #1 and Our Army at War #104 and #162, which were published by DC and are cover dated August/September 1955, March 1961, and January 1966 respectively. The “Viking Prince” scans are from The Viking Prince hardcover, which was published in 2010, while the solo Sergeant Rock story is from Showcase Presents Sgt. Rock volume 1, which was published in 2007. Enjoy!Continue Reading »

Every day this year, I will be examining the artwork on a single comic book story. Today’s artist is Jim Aparo, and the issue is The Brave and the Bold #98, which was published by DC and is cover dated October/November 1971. This scan is from the trade Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo volume 1, which was published in 2012. Enjoy!Continue Reading »

Every day this year, I will be examining the first pages of random comics. This month I will be looking at four writer/artist duos, as voted on by you, the readers! This week features Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams! Today’s page is from The Brave and the Bold #93, which was published by DC and is cover dated January 1971. This scan is from Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams volume 2, which was released in 2004. Enjoy!Continue Reading »

Tom Ewing fills everyone who wants to know the answer to that question in, at Pitchfork*:

Thrills were what 2000AD traded in. It even calls individual stories “thrills” and its stated goal is the delivery to its readers of “thrill-power.” Every British comic started in the 1970s and 80s had its own jargon, designed to make the kids buying it feel part of a club. 2000AD was no exception: It had this notion of thrill-power, and it had a supposedly alien editor, Tharg the Mighty, a guy in a green rubber mask with a telephone dial stuck to it. Tharg really came into his own later in the comic’s history, but the credo of thrill-power was there from the beginning. The voice inherited by Millar is in full song in the first few years of 2000AD– crude, overdriven, hilarious, and fantastically exciting.

Oh, and there’s this decription of a cover of the mag. Which I want right damn now:

One legendary 1978 cover catches the tone perfectly– illustrating the story “FLESH II”, about time-travelling dinosaur farmers. The cover is dominated by one enormous speech bubble: “NO! Please let me drown BEFORE the GIANT SCORPIONS get to me!” It’s crudely drawn, but the picture– people in water; scorpion (giant)– isn’t the point. The idea isn’t to pique the reader’s curiosity, or suggest a tricky situation which a hero will have to escape from. It certainly isn’t to spark empathy (hmm…if I was in that situation, would I rather the drowning… or the scorpions?) No, the cover is pure rampaging thrill-power, designed for grins and sensation and nothing else.